First Drive: 2009 Mercedes-Benz SLK

Subtle changes, but still one slick ride

Don't get me wrong, both the $50,000ish SLK350 and $65,000esque SLK55 AMG are fine-driving vehicles. It's just that, with the top down, who can discern a 32-horsepower improvement? Everything feels fast and sounds good -- particularly when the V-6 sings lustily near its 7200-rpm redline and barks a bit on the seven-speed transmission's throttle-blipped downshifts.

Ditto for the 55, though its tone is less tenor and more bellicose baritone; jump off the gas and hear that back-pressure burble. It's positively fearsome when you're top-down and wide open in tunnels and canyons.

What you can feel is a decided improvement in the steering feel. Mercedes implemented its new Direct Steer system on the SLK and it's a throwback -- a mechanical solution in the age of complicated electronics and algorithms. The problem Direct Steer attempts to address is the balance between freeway-cruising comfort and canyon-carving sharpness. The heart of this variable ratio system is a steering rack with specially shaped and spaced teeth. A standard pinion gear rides on top, but as it turns the steering ratio can change dramatically and instantly because it's all done mechanically (with hydraulic power assist, of course).

Mercedes claims the number of turns from lock to lock has been reduced by 25 percent, and on the road, the SLKs felt noticeably sharper, without that dead spot on-center. More important is that the system is natural and progressive, free of that disconnected, artificial feel many of the steer-by-wire systems have. It's not perfect, but it is a definite improvement.Not a bad a way to sum up the 2009 SLK line.